Chores and Bits

Beez Neez now Chy Whella
Big Bear and Pepe Millard
Mon 17 Jun 2013 22:37
A Week of Chores
 
 
 
 
 
 
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The week began with the lounge ceiling coming down and the captain successfully repairing – reseating the car traveler, bananas ripening in the sunshine. Lounge ceiling back in place, great, but sikaflex dollops needing acetone removal. Mmmm. All good but Beez smelt like a nail salon for the rest of the day.
 
 
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Bear went for more French sticks and brought back a three kilo box of chicken bits, not bad at four pounds fifty. Frozen solid, the skipper got to work separating them. I wanted a piece of the fun and was soon wielding the hammer. We then scrubbed the cockpit and then got down to the serious business of playing games, quite a cold wind and drizzle = conservatory up. When I say I think it’s cold – I know I’m being a wuss compared to UK temperatures, (it doesn’t drop below twenty four degrees at night), but Bear did have to get the quilt out to stuff in our normal ‘just the quilt cover’, so even furry boy thinks it’s a bit chippy at night.
 
 
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Washing done, tool shed tidied.
 
 
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We had a morning without wind so the poorly genoa was packed away and the spare came out and was hoisted.
 
 
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Pegase III, our next-door-neighbour came in two days before us from Chile, a journey of three and a half thousand miles. The French couple on board had spent the last two years sailing Patagonia and Argentina. Before they left Europe they spent time in Plymouth, Fowey and Falmouth. Our chats are in a mix of English, French and Spanish, mostly Spanish....... 
 
We went to the Town Hall (a tiny building that looks more like a portacabin – well kept grounds though) to see Alice - her co-worker spoke good English, thankfully. We paid our ten pound fee for the week, this is to be able to throw our rubbish in the bins provided outside the sports hall, where the local group of drummers and dancers practice every evening. We learned that there are three schools here with about three hundred pupils in total. The population stands at one thousand, four hundred and fifty two.
 
 
             
  Rikitea Taravai 4  
  Taravai Akena 7  
  Akena Rikitea 4  
  Rikitea Rapa 575  
  Rapa Ravavae 290  
  Ravavae Taahu 105  
  Taahu Papeete 344  
  Papeete Moorea 12  
  Moorea Huahine Iti 85  
  Huahine Iti Raiatea 28  
  Raiatea Vaitape, Bora Bora 17  
  Bora Bora Raratonga 534  
  Raratonga Neiu 590  
  Neiu American Samoa 290  
  A. Samoa Upolu 71  
  Upolu Western Samoa 25  
  W. Samoa Vavau 310  
  Vavau Ha'Pai 70  
  Ha'Pai Out Tolu 13  
  Otu Tolu Tonga Tapu 38  
  Tonga Tapu Opua, New Zealand 1029  
             
 
We had a planning meeting and have penciled twenty stops (as always totally written in sand) a short spuddle of four thousand, four hundred and forty one miles, before arriving in New Zealand. On line we booked our place in Opua Marina, NZ for the 16th of December, a huge thank you to Jane and Marilyn for all their help, looking forward to meeting you both. 
 
 
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The Frenchman in the boat near us has fun every day in his dinghy.
 
 
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Beyond the anchorage is one of the pearl farms (all private, selling to Japan and Tahiti). The area is famous for black pearls.
 
 
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The nail from the third toe came off and was duly presented to me, still think that’s a bizarre thing to do to a wife. Mmmm. The picture, taken just before the event, is just too horrific, so best seen as a tiny image. This happening put me in the right frame to wash all the mats, sweep inside, clean the floor, change the bedding, scrub the bathroom and oil / polish the walls. Maybe the captain has just gone off cutting nails ??? Martin suggested that with New Zealand approaching that Bear could be called a Cave Troll (too big to be a hobbit) - with his feet – I couldn’t agree more and nothing could be more accurate. That’s it I’m off to seal the windows. Again. I don’t like the word leak, so prefer to say that in the big seas we found a little “moistness” around and below some of the windows. Kitchen roll needed in one or two places........Hopefully that’s another job success.
 
 
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A clean Beez
 
Well her left side is clean. Bear worked hard scraping and scrubbing with many friends in attendance - hundreds of jellyfish gathered for the free meals he was releasing into the water. The skipper assured me his associates didn’t sting. Did you just touch their bell end or did you actually touch the skirt end was my big question. Oh just the bell end. Oh well I’m not convinced and certainly don’t see myself swimming amongst them. Since the day we got here we have seen them all congregating, coming in on the onshore wind. They are from small to dinner plate size – the white-ish to see-through jobs that have four chambers in the bell end, very pretty but simply put, I hate them. We haven’t seen a single turtle so the numbers here aren’t at any risk of diminishing. I also saw a baby tiger shark, beautiful colouring, I guess the lagoon is a safe breeding ground for all kinds of creatures.
 
 
 
 
 
ALL IN ALL A BUSY WEEK
                     SUCCESSFUL JOBS IN LOVELY SURROUNDINGS